Best Buy recommending not to buy Blackberry

**jgrobertson** · 07-04-2012, 10:49 PM

This morning on the radio here in DC, I heard an ad for the Blackberry Bold. The Be Bold ad. At the end it said you can buy the Bold for $99 at Best Buy.

Now a few days ago, I was in a local Best Buy and walked up to the cell phone counter and looked at the 9900. The salesman pounced and said "we don't recommend Blackberry." I asked why and got the usual litany or reasons, obsolete OS, not intuitive, few applications, email inferior to iPhone etc. I asked about security and he said the iPhone was a secure.

THEN, I asked if that was his personal opinion or the official position of Best Buy. He gave a waffling reply about they are trained by Best Buy and they also talk about themselves. I then became increasingly aware that my presence in that store was no longer welcome.

Had a similar experience at an AT&T store recently too.

**AVPTI** · 07-04-2012, 10:53 PM

wait...he said iPhone email was superior?

Simply. Amazing

**xandermac** · 07-04-2012, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by TW93

wait...he said iPhone email was superior?

Simply. Amazing

iPhone is definitely a richer experience than the text based blackberry email. Desktop class I think they call it. It also formats HTML mail properly. Superior in what respect would be my question.

**anthogag** · 07-04-2012, 11:24 PM

It's simply a dumba$$ salesperson. These people have way too much freedom when selling products. They're definitely little fanboys and girls. I've had this kind of experience

My email on the 9810 is excellent...an excellent experience, especially with apps from app world enhancing the experience. This salesperson is just being a d-bag!

**anthogag** · 07-04-2012, 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by xandermac

iPhone is definitely a richer experience than the text based blackberry email. Desktop class I think they call it. It also formats HTML mail properly. Superior in what respect would be my question.

Get with the times dude...my emails contain all the nice pictures and links to websites...it's beyond the simple text email of yore that you remember

**Laura Knotek** · 07-04-2012, 11:29 PM

Originally Posted by xandermac

iPhone is definitely a richer experience than the text based blackberry email. Desktop class I think they call it. It also formats HTML mail properly. Superior in what respect would be my question.

Is it possible to compose and send new emails in HTML format using an iPhone? If so, does it require use of an app?

All of the emails I've received from iPhone users have always been plain text, just like those from BlackBerry users.

I know Android allows one to compose and send new HTML emails. Windows Phone 7.5 also allows one to compose and send new HTML emails.

**FMB8900** · 07-04-2012, 11:30 PM

What else is new...

**Laura Knotek** · 07-04-2012, 11:31 PM

Originally Posted by anthogag

Get with the times dude...my emails contain all the nice pictures and links to websites...it's beyond the simple text email of yore that you remember

BlackBerry allows a user to view HTML emails. However, it does not allow a user to compose and send new HTML emails.

**RJB55** · 07-05-2012, 12:04 AM

RIM clearly has some channel problems to attend to. If you do contact Best Buy corporate you may want to consider Cc'ng RIM as well on any email, I'm sure they'd like to know about this too.

**palomartian** · 07-05-2012, 12:18 AM

RIM limits your email in ways no other platform does. This limits the size of your emails and prevents you from getting large attachments. They get a kickback from the carriers for doing it because it limits the customers' use of data. So yes, in some ways Blackberry email is inferior, right now, today.

**reeneebob** · 07-05-2012, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by Tõnis

. Always pleased to mess with that types' livelihood especially in this economy. Do it! Follow up on this.

Classy. Take joy in threatening someone's job because they bruised your cell phone ego. Yep, true class that is.

Also... I used to be the one who forwarded those letters to corporate for both Best Buy and Future shop. They aren't as powerful as you think they are.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

**rdkempt** · 07-05-2012, 12:32 AM

Originally Posted by reeneebob

Classy. Take joy in threatening someone's job because they bruised your cell phone ego. Yep, true class that is.

Also... I used to be the one who forwarded those letters to corporate for both Best Buy and Future shop. They aren't as powerful as you think they are.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

I was just going to say something similar (on both points).

The person I know who literally was "the complaints department" for his company had a pre-written "Oh we care so much... thank you for your valuable feedback" letter that he would mail back and just shred the letter you sent without reading it. Not saying all places do this, but most people just could care less about your crappy experience with some kid barely making minimum wage that probably won't be there in 6 months anyways. They don't hire mobile engineers and firmware developers at Best Buy to sell people phones if you didn't notice. They take any poor sucker who can pronounce the word "Android" and show grandma how to make a call or take a picture with her new phone.

**pythons** · 07-05-2012, 01:55 AM

The fact is that "at this time" BlackBerry IS inferior to Driod and IOS ( and that includes email )...
...I've got a 9930 & an iphone 4s and the iphone walks all over the berry for email.
...Like truncated email OFTEN, can't open this, can't open that, etc.

Best buy is like any other place - they feel the heat of people getting something they complain about...
...Like someone get's a blackberry ( their first smart phone ) and get pissed when it can't DO any of the cool stuff.
....Like a Droid or iphone can - and also can't compete with the business apps either.

Sprint has been doing this for for the last 6 months at least.....
...They simpy got tired of taking customer heat because the consumer was under the impression.
...The blackberry would do what the other phones do.

**otacon** · 07-05-2012, 02:20 AM

It's just a matter of personal opinion. I don't think it's Best Buy's policy now to diss the Blackberry. They can't control what all their sales people say also. Letting Best Buy corporate know is just skimming the surface.

**yehrulz** · 07-05-2012, 02:34 AM

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...27128596.html?

Hrm....

**FR33MAN** · 07-05-2012, 03:38 AM

Anyway a salesperson will not talk about your interest but about his bonuses.
probably he has a better margin on iphone, that's it.
But then how to be surprised that blackberry is selling less phone in north america...

**katiepea** · 07-05-2012, 03:42 AM

Originally Posted by anthogag

It's simply a dumba$$ salesperson. These people have way too much freedom when selling products. They're definitely little fanboys and girls. I've had this kind of experience

My email on the 9810 is excellent...an excellent experience, especially with apps from app world enhancing the experience. This salesperson is just being a d-bag!

yes, i definitely wish my salespeople had less freedom. perhaps we should ponder passing legislation limiting what salespeople can sell. i know i personally like for my salesperson to have special interests in mind.

**southlander** · 07-05-2012, 04:04 AM

Not so sure about email on an iPhone in depth (played with it but never used it at length). But I can say after trying a Droid RARZ for a couple of weeks email for me is definitely better on my Bold 9930.

Sent from my flip-phone.

**Superfly_FR** · 07-05-2012, 04:25 AM

Originally Posted by yehrulz

BigBadWulf - "Word of advice - Stick to the seasoned veterans here. If you see someone who averages about 100 posts a day, gnrally speaking they have little experience, and want to prove it as often as possible. "

I'm dead, ED.

**sleepngbear** · 07-05-2012, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by JD914

You can't blame the sales people for looking out for your best interest. Unless you're in India or Nigeria, do you really expect anyone to recommend blackberry at this time?

If I go into a store wanting a specific product -- any product -- I do not want some uninformed but nonetheless opinionated flunky giving me 800 reasons why I don't. As soon as they do, they've just blown a sale, and probably future sales as well. If the official company position is to not recommend a product, then why the **** are they advertising it, let alone even selling it.

**jordandub** · 07-05-2012, 07:49 AM

Salespeople will always push you towards the product with the highest margin for the company or personal commission for them, usually the latter if they are on commission.

**JTATL** · 07-05-2012, 07:51 AM

Yes blackberry does indeed truncate email. That made it kinda annoying because you couldn't download an entire large email at one time. Its probably part of their data compression regime because I haven't seen that happen at all on my iphone 4s.

**JTATL** · 07-05-2012, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by jordandub

Salespeople will always push you towards the product with the highest margin for the company or personal commission for them, usually the latter if they are on commission.

I do not believe best buy employees get commissions.

**spencerdl** · 07-05-2012, 08:41 AM

I'm beginning to wonder if Crackberry is a site to HELP BlackBerry owners or a site to BASH BlackBerry devices......just wondering

**Tõnis** · 07-05-2012, 08:44 AM

There's ways around the derelict complaints department employee who might shred the letter or delete the email. Just google the higher-ups (ceo, etc) and address the letter to them personally. Send it even certified, signature and return receipt requested. That takes it to a new level and bypasses the complaints department flunky. The letter will get noticed. As I said, I'm always pleased to mess with that types' livelihood, even to take food out of their brats' mouths.